Context
Surprised to hear Jon Snow on Channel Four News raise the question whether Ghaddafi “should be taken out” – and not in the sense of bought a meal and shown a good time. “Taken out” is Mob slang: it would hardly have been more surprising if Jon Snow said “whacked.” Is this the official language of international affairs? (And it isn’t a move in the direction of plain speaking: it’s just drawing our euphemisms from a different source).
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